The Edge of Glory
by peut-etre-poulet
Summary: SPOILERS: Through the Looking Glass   - Charlie/Claire: Charlie discovers a night-time habit of Claire's that has him in stitches.


**Title::..**The Edge of Glory

**Spoilers::..**_Through the Looking Glass_

**Rating::..**PG for kissing

**Genre::..**Disgustingly cute FLUFF

**Characters::..**Charlie, Claire and Aaron

**Pairing::..**CC

**Author's Note::..**I came up with the idea for a fic to match Lady Gaga's third single from the AMAZING album _Born This Way_, _The Edge of Glory. _My first attempt was this huge, drawn out thing about Charlie's experiences with fame and drugs and then settling down with Claire and I just felt it was too long and I was repeating a lot of the ideas I had already established in previous fics. So I scraped the whole thing and went back to basics, back to my fluff roots. Warning! This fic is so sweet it may give you a tooth-ache.

The title and the lyrics within are stolen from the gorgeous song _The Edge of Glory_ as released by my queen Lady Gaga. I would say that it's one of my favourite songs off of the new album but I just love them all so much, so go out and get the album and when _The Edge of Glory _comes on turn it up really loud and dance like there is no tomorrow!

**Summary::..**Charlie discovers a night-time habit of Claire's that has him in stitches.

* * *

><p>'<em>It's hot to feel the rush,<em>

_To brush the dangerous._

_I'm gonna run right to,_

_To the edge with you_

_Where we can both fall far in love.'_

Claire's snoring had to be the most adorable sound Charlie had ever heard. He lay awake, propped up on his side. He refused to go to sleep; he couldn't bare the idea of missing a single moment. He was finally back by her side and he was working to commit every sensation to memory. Aaron was asleep and almost all of the campfires were extinguished, there was nothing to distract him from her.

She was lying flat on her back with her golden hair splayed out all around her. Her face was smooth, worry-free. He wasn't surprised he hadn't heard the snoring before. It was quiet; as if she were self-conscious someone was listening and was doing her best not to attract too much attention to herself. It was a rolling sound and then she sighed the breath out. It took a lot of effort for him to not laugh. It was such an unladylike sound to come out of the most beautiful woman he had ever known.

Had she always snored? She paused in the middle of an inhale, the snore halted, breaking off into a quick snort. He jumped at the sudden sound, completely aroused out of his doze. He watched her and waited, fully expecting her to have woken herself up with such a sound. She was silent for a few moments and he held his breath. His chest trembled with laughter yet to be given a voice. Then she drew in a noisy breath, with this snore lasting about two seconds.

Finally he couldn't keep it under control any longer. The laughter sprung forth, escaping out of his mouth. He covered his mouth and rolled away from her, trying to mask the sound. He tried not to laugh but the more he thought about not laughing the funnier Claire's snort became. He honked and squeaked, his whole body shaking. He pressed his fist into his mouth still unable to stop himself.

"Charlie?" Her groggy voice asked from behind him. "Is something wrong?" She put her hand on his shoulder and he rolled onto his back. He decided there was no reason to hide this any longer, he took his hand away from his mouth and set the laughter free. It became a full and loud sound, filling their small tent. "Are you crying?" She listened for a few more seconds. "Wait, are you laughing, are you seriously laughing?" She chuckled uncertainly, wanting to join in but not yet sure why. "What's so funny?"

It took him a while to stop laughing, then he had to work to fill his lungs before he could speak. "You snore." He barely completed the final word when the giddy laughter consumed him again.

"What?" She demanded, her voice squeaking with surprise. "I do _not_!"

He sat up, gasping for air. "Oh yes you do, you do indeed snore."

"No, I don't." She rebutted.

He put his hand on her cheek, looking into her eyes through the darkness. "Claire, luv, you do. But it's okay because it's the most cuterific thing I've ever heard. In fact it's so cute it's bloody ridiculous." He fell back onto the pillows, chuckling.

"Excuse me, are you laughing at me?" She asked and he answered this by laughing even more.

"I'm sorry, it was so funny, you _snorted_." He added, in between gasps for air.

"You are such a jerk!" She exclaimed, picking her pillow up and shoving it into his chest with as much force as her tiny arms possessed. "Stop laughing."

"It was so funny." He repeated. "It was like…" He exaggerated the sound and repeated it a handful of times, making him sound quite like a pig.

"Stop it, I can't believe you." She hit him with her pillow again-and-again. He continued to snort teasingly and despite her best efforts she laughed. "Stop it, stop it!"

He grabbed the pillow. "Okay, I'm taking this off of you." He tried to remove it from her hands and tugged on it. This brought her body closer to his.

Suddenly her snoring didn't seem so funny anymore. He stared at her, her delicate beauty illuminated by the moonlight. She was staring back at him, her bottom lip snagged between her teeth. The sound of the waves crashing onto the shore was dwarfed by his heart beat thundering in his ears. Their proximity had caused his cheeks to burn.

Finally he couldn't stand it anymore; her breath was so hot in his mouth. Instead of being timid and respectful he lunged, attaching his lips to hers. At first she was taken by surprise (he couldn't imagine how she thought he could resist kissing her when she had been looking at him in such a way) but then she relaxed. As their lips began to move together (in a beat a million times catchier than _You All Everybody_) he felt dizzy. His head swum, reminding him of the first month or so of experimenting with drugs. His heart was in his throat and his hands were sweating like crazy.

She was the one to break the kiss, but not until after swiping her tongue cheekily across his bottom lip. Their eyes instantly locked as he held his breath. One of the best things about Claire was that he didn't yet know her well enough to be able to read her. There were a lot of times when she surprised him. He could never be certain what she was going to do next. He knew that there was something beyond the blonde hair and cute giggles. This was what kept his eyes locked on hers as his heart beat much faster than usual.

A smile erupted on her face and he beamed back at her. He was so light-headed he began to chuckle and she laughed along with him. Then he imitated her snorting a few more times. She laughed louder, giving his shoulder a playful shove. They laughed together and, as he held her elbows in his hands, he thought this felt just as good as the amazing kissing.

This didn't mean he protested when she leant back into him. He instantly shut up with the laughter so he could read her body language. Her forehead was pressed against his and with an open mouth she moved closer. He closed his eyes and opened his mouth as well. She was breathing heavily into his mouth. Meanwhile he wasn't sure he was still breathing at all – not that he gave a damn about life beyond this new kiss.

Then the precious moment was shattered when Aaron started screeching like a wounded bird. In an instant Claire was gone from the bed and a cold breeze drifted over Charlie's body. He lay still for a few seconds and she apologized to him. He didn't accept any of her apologies; he didn't believe she had done anything wrong. It didn't take long for her to become so preoccupied by Aaron that she stopped talking to him altogether.

After watching her with the baby for a handful of moments he got up to take a leak. It was completely silent as he stood on the fringe of the forest. He thought of Claire's sparkling eyes and felt totally at peace. He had no idea that this was the last night he would ever spend in Claire's presence. But reflecting over it when strapped to the chair in the Looking Glass he knew he wouldn't do anything differently if given the chance.

'_I'm on the Edge of Glory_

_And I'm hangin' on a Moment of Truth._

_I'm on the Edge of Glory_

_And I'm hangin' on a Moment with You.'_

**The End.**


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